LF asks Mamata Banerjee to meet agitating junior doctors immediately

The Left Front on Monday demanded that West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee "call agitating junior doctors for a meeting immediately to resolve their demands".

In an open letter to Banerjee, Left Front chairman Biman Bose urged her to take a humane view of the situation as the indefinite hunger strike by the medics entered its 10th day. "We demand that as the chief minister of the state, you sit with the junior doctors immediately for a dialogue to resolve their ten-point demands," Bose wrote.

He noted that the general public has joined the protests by doctors over the "rape-murder of the post-graduate trainee at R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital on August 9".

Stating that junior doctors have been on an indefinite hunger strike since 5 October, and that some are already suffering from serious health conditions as a result, Bose insisted that the CM, who also holds the health portfolio, "take steps to resolve the imbroglio".

Meanwhile, demanding a quick and transparent probe by the CBI into the alleged rape-murder of the doctor at R.G. Kar hospital, agitating junior doctors on Monday evening took out a rally to Raj Bhavan and submitted a memorandum to the governor's office.

The protesting doctors are demanding justice for their deceased colleague and the immediate removal of health secretary Narayan Swarup Nigam. Their other demands include the establishment of a centralised referral system for all hospitals and medical colleges in the state, implementation of a bed vacancy monitoring system, and the formation of task forces to ensure essential provisions for CCTV, on-call rooms and washrooms at their workplaces.

Earlier on Monday, the indefinite hunger strike by the doctors entered its 10th day with no resolution in sight after a meeting between them and the state government failed to resolve the deadlock, even as two more doctors participating in the 'fast-unto-death' fell ill.

A crucial meeting between representatives from 12 doctors' associations and chief secretary Manoj Pant held at Swasthya Bhavan concluded without any resolution.

The doctors had hoped for a clear timeline from the state government to address their demands, but sources indicate that the administration was reluctant to commit to any deadlines. According to Dr. Kaushik Chaki, president of the West Bengal Doctors' Forum, the meeting was "unproductive."

"We requested the state government to send someone — preferably the highest-ranking official — to engage with the young doctors who are fasting. However, the chief secretary indicated that he could not provide any deadlines," Chaki said.

Following the meeting, Pant addressed reporters, explaining that seven of the 10 demands raised by the junior doctors had already been addressed, while the remaining three required further administrative consideration.

"For the remaining three demands, they were requesting specific timelines. These are administrative decisions that the state needs to consider, so we cannot provide a deadline at this point," Pant said. "We assured them that we have noted their issues and grievances. We urged them to persuade the junior doctors to withdraw their hunger strike, as we are concerned about their health and wellbeing."

Asked about the demand to remove Nigam, Pant said it is for the state government to decide what action to take. Pant also invited the Joint Platform of Doctors (JPD) for further discussions at the state health department headquarters and urged them to call off their planned 'droher (revolutionary) carnival' demonstration on 15 October.

The JPD had announced the demonstration in solidarity with the doctors, but the government expressed concern that it would coincide with the state's annual Durga Puja carnival.

The doctors' hunger strike followed nearly 50 days of 'cease work' in two phases, after the alleged rape-murder of a postgraduate trainee inside the state-run RG Kar Medical College and Hospital on 9 August. As of Monday, seven junior doctors remain on hunger strike, with several requiring immediate medical attention.

Meanwhile, Pulasta Acharya, a junior doctor from NRS Medical College and Hospital, was admitted to the facility's critical care unit (CCU) on Sunday night after complaining of severe stomach pains. A senior doctor at NRS Medical College said, "Pulasta is in the CCU and his parameters have deteriorated. We have formed a medical board to treat him."

Tanaya Panja, a junior doctor from Kolkata Medical College, also exhibited declining health, with her vitals becoming unstable on Monday afternoon. She remains under observation at the protest site. Panja is one of several junior doctors whose health has worsened since the hunger strike began, with three others already hospitalised earlier in Kolkata and Siliguri.

The latest junior doctor to join the fast is from the ENT department of North Bengal Medical College, who began the hunger strike on Monday afternoon.

In a related development, senior Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Kalyan Banerjee criticised the protesting doctors, accusing them of lacking the resolve for a genuine hunger strike and terming their "fast-unto-death" as a "fast-unto-hospitalisation", suggesting that their main goal was to attract media attention and secure hospital admission shortly after starting the protest.

"What kind of a hunger strike is this? It starts from the protest venue and ends once they are hospitalised. The hunger strike that we know is a fast-unto-death, not a fast-unto-hospitalisation. What these doctors are doing is a fast-unto-hospitalisation. Do they have just this much fire in their belly?" he questioned.

In response to his remarks, protesting doctor Debashish Haldar said, "It seems he wants the doctors on hunger strike to die while protesting."

Meanwhile, West Bengal BJP chief Suvendu Adhikari urged the people to boycott the Durga Puja carnival organised by the TMC-led government as a mark of protest and to show solidarity with the junior doctors' agitation.